Chapter 17
Will put the pouches on the table and sank down on the chair. He tried to convince himself it was only words, but they had struck him deep and he couldn't shake them off. A pleasure boy. And the prince had said or done nothing to deny it. And then he had of course been right that telling the lord Will's true identity would be stupid and that didn't improve his mood.
He scowled and pulled off his boots and breeches to find a cleaner pair, the dirt and mud had formed dried cakes on his knees. He changed the tunic as well and realized he was putting on his last pair of clean clothes. He reluctantly thought of the new tunics the seamstress was making for him on Kell's orders and his fists clenched.
No, if he had been wearing his greys that lord would have really found out just who he had called a pleasure boy.
Will stopped with his fingers on the tunic's lacings. He had never felt such rage towards a man before, and while it was strangely satisfying it also scared him. Sharican had taught him better than that. Sharican had taught him heedless anger was not for sorcerers who needed to be focused and in control. He pulled a deep breath and promised himself he'd keep that control even when he met the lord next time.
But Will remembered Kell's sudden anxiety and the tense expression around his eyes when he'd seen his guest in the parlor. He had not been an expected or wanted guest and Will wondered what kind of man the lord was to put the prince at such unease. Which made Will clench his fists again, anger mixed with guilt this time. What a sad excuse for him to leave the prince, his own ego taking a blow. So much for his sense of duty.
He shook his head, no; he would not feel bad for leaving Kell alone with the lord. He was a man grown, capable of taking care of himself and Kell obviously knew the lord or he would have turned him from the manor.
Will shook his head, trying to dispel all distracting thoughts. He still had to go to the market and buy the supplies he needed. He hastily went out the door and down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He didn't quite look where he was going and almost bumped into Piotry's sharp shoulder as he rounded a corner. The redheaded sorcerer caught his knapsack and his balance at the last moment, and gave Will a surprised but wide grin.
"Piotry! I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Will reached out a hand to steady his fellow sorcerer and was handed the knapsack instead.
"Nice to see you too, Will. Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Will followed his friend back up the stairs and down the corridor to a door not far from Will's. "I'm heading for the market; I need to buy bowls and jars for my herbs."
"Oh, I might go with you then, I seem to have broken two of my own bowls." Piotry opened the door and went inside ahead of Will. His room wasn't any different from Will's and he supposed most of the rooms had been commander's quarters or the like back when the keep was built.
Piotry rummaged around in his pack and pulled out a plain grey tunic to put on instead of his grey coat. "I like the color," he said and smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle when he saw Will's arched eyebrow.
"Where's Aron?" Will wondered when they were on their way out from the keep.
"He asked for extended leave and didn't exactly know when he'd be back. But he'd come as fast as possible in case he would be needed."
Will nodded and fell silent as they navigated the busy streets. The market was crowded and noisy, and Will got acquainted with more than one elbow before he could find the strange rhythm all people fell into when moving in large crowds.
"So," Piotry said quietly, leaning slightly towards Will, "how's it going with the prince?"
Will gave him a startled look. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean, Will. It's quite obvious how you feel for each other if you know what to look for."
"It is? Does anyone else know?" Will felt a bit uneasy with the thought of the whole keep whispering behind his back. Pleasure boy.
"No, just us sorcerers and perhaps commander Rión, as far as I know." Piotry gave him a calming smile. "You needn't worry about us telling anyone."
"Thanks." Will pulled a breath and gave an entertaining troupe wide berth.
"So..." Piotry said again and arched a curious eyebrow.
"What?"
"Have you spent the night together yet?"
Will stumbled on his own feet and only avoided falling head first into the man in front of him by aid of Piotry's steady hand. Gods, his knees were suddenly very unsteady.
"I'll take that as a no." Piotry's smile was wide enough even before he noticed Will's glare and blushing cheeks.
"These are private matter," Will hissed and darted cautious glances at the people around them.
"Indeed they are, but as it seems you don't know much about sleeping with a man – or you would have done it already," he murmured under his breath, to which Will gave him a shocked look, "and I don't know anything about the prince's experience in such, I have to ask in case you need my advice," he hurriedly continued when Will scowled.
"In case I needed your advice I would ask for it," Will shot back.
Piotry arched an eyebrow. "When it concerns such 'private matters'?"
Will blushed and looked down. Perhaps not. "You would be able to give that kind of advice?" he asked after a moment.
"Well, I too have had a male lover in my youth, a very pleasant man he was." Piotry's lashes lowered a bit as he let memories wash over him.
Will suddenly had to reconsider his impressions about his friend.
Piotry pulled Will with him towards a corner of the market where an old, wrinkled lady had her merchandise spread out over a red piece of cloth in the shadow of a building. She sat cross-legged on the ground, her ragged, woolen skirts pooling around her, and squinted at them as Piotry nodded at her.
Piotry moved his hand over the small jars and containers on the cloth as he searched for the right one, and then he let out a satisfying exclamation and picked up a vial. "Here," he said and pulled out the stopper. "Smell this."
Will leaned forward and gingerly put his nose over the opening. It had a scent like of spices mixed with sweet herbs and some unknown flower, and it tickled his nostrils pleasantly. "What is it? I can't seem to place the ingredients."
Piotry gave him a secretive smile. "This is what you need for your nights with the prince," he said quietly.
Will's brain didn't seem to understand what it was Piotry was telling him, he looked blankly at his friend.
Piotry lowered his voice further. "You'll need this to smoothen the penetration, Will. It won't be very comfortable without it." He poured out a small dollop in Will's unresisting hand.
Will could only stare at Piotry. He hadn't really thought that far, he knew it could be done; after all, two years of learning healing and listening to all the wenches' tales of copulation, there wasn't much you didn't know about the human body, male or female. But he hadn't considered doing that with the prince, even thought he knew Kell wanted it badly enough there was always something holding him back, something he could use as an excuse. They would touch and kiss and caress, yes. But actual penetration?
Will remembered one of those women who master Sharican had treated when Will had just become his apprentice. She'd had a particularly loose tongue – in more ways than just telling her stories to anyone who'd listen – and her experiences had left Will just a bit flushed and very much confused. Sharican had seen it fit to straighten things out with his young and very innocent and inexperienced apprentice, and had given Will a quite detailed account of how the human body functioned when intimately joined with another.
Both men and women responded well to touch, from hand and mouth alike, and the pressure of body to body was sometimes quite enough to arouse many. But it was the intimate joining of various parts of a body's genitals that everyone sharing intimacy strived for and, if being entirely correct while on the subject, what consequently caused a woman to give birth to a child. It was also in and around said genitals that most pleasure could be given and found.
That Sharican – old and wise as he was, at least in Will's eyes – knew much of how the female body worked wasn't a surprise; after all he was a well renowned sorcerer and had been quite handsome in his youth. But that he knew just as much about the male body and its reactions to certain touches and pressure points, that had been quite shocking. Will had truly blushed then.
That's when Sharican had shifted from his matter-of-factly teacher's voice to a more serious and deep tone, and gently told Will that sorcerers once in a while took themselves lovers of both genders. In fact, he had done so himself when he was young. Will had wondered who that man had been and a more daunting thought – if he would ever take himself a male lover in his life.
And here Will was now, in preparation with Piotry's aid to take himself a male lover. He turned wide eyes to the smooth salve in his hand; it felt like velvet and slowly melted to resemble more of oil in the heat of his palm.
"Generosity is the word," Piotry was saying. "So you'll need a larger vial than this one." He turned to the old woman and she happily took out a larger vial from a pack at her side. Piotry pulled out the cork to smell it and make sure it was fresh. Then he paid her and put the vial in Will's other hand before the young sorcerer knew what had happened.
"But..."
"No 'buts', Will. You'll need it and I'd be more than happy to gift it to you." He gave Will a suddenly serious look. "Be generous with it and be gentle, Will. Always be gentle. Whoever it is of you that choose to receive the other is giving up a great deal of himself. It takes great courage to admit so much control to another." He squeezed Will's shoulder with a small smile. "And don't hesitate to ask me anything, okay?"
Will struggled to smile and Piotry laughed softly.
* * * * * * * *
Will found himself carrying one package more than he had gone to the market for, and he blushed when Piotry gave him a wink and a few encouraging words before they went separate ways. Will hurried up the stairs to his room, eager to put the vial away until he could think things over.
He was more than a little surprised and very shocked when he saw the prince sitting on the edge of his bed, and he blushed deeply, his conversation with Piotry and the memories of his master's words still very fresh in his mind. Kell looked up and a relieved expression came over his whole posture.
"What are you doing here?" Will managed to blurt out and hurried to the table to put down the packages before he dropped them.
"I came to see you and you weren't here, I supposed you had already gone to the market so I decided to wait." The prince remained seated on the bed. "I... I wanted to apologize for lord Calon; he had no right to speak to you like that." He looked up at Will. "And I wanted to apologize for my own behavior as well. I didn't stand up to him like I should have."
Will glanced at the prince; he seemed miserable and not at all his charming, overwhelming self. "You don't have to apologize, my prince. Not for yourself anyway, though I expect to hear an excuse from the lord when I see him next."
Kell seemed a bit heartened by Will's words, but then he snorted. "Calon won't excuse himself for anything, even to a sorcerer. He thinks himself infallible."
"He's not," Will said with conviction. And he'd make sure the lord understood that.
"You can't touch him, Will, not unless you want to engage in a serious fight. He's a dangerous man who rids himself of his enemies, despite who – or what – they might be."
"Is that why you fear him?"
Kell's wonderful, deep blue eyes widened and he pulled a short, harsh breath. "I don't fear him," he said, but it didn't sound very convincing.
"I can tell you do, your body language spoke eloquently enough when you saw him." Will turned to look straight at the prince. "Whatever he's done to you I won't let it happen again."
Kell gave him a brave little smile. "I know. But I'm afraid you can't save me from my memories."
Will kneeled in front of the prince and took both his hands between his own. He had never seen this tired, helpless expression on Kell's face before, it both scared him and made him want to hold him so very close. "I'll be there for you, whenever you need me," he vowed.
Kell's fingers tightened minutely around Will's. "Will you stay at the manor with me, then?" he asked hopefully.
Will wanted to say yes, but the thought of lord Calon seeing him and Kell together, and the strong anger he'd feel towards the lord, made him hesitate. He needed to get himself under better control first. And yet, how could he leave Kell alone with the man?
"I'll go with you now if you want me to, but I can't stay the night," he decided finally.
Kell sighed and looked down at their hands, slowly shaking his head. "Just promise me you'll be there tomorrow?"
"I promise. And by then perhaps the seamstress has finished my clothes so I won't look quite as much like a pleasure boy." He smiled a little and the prince mirrored the expression, though it failed to reach his eyes.
Will released Kell's hands and set about unpacking his bowls and jars, and the various oils and other items he needed when preparing the herbs. Kell showed a little interest and sat on the bed with his eyes following every movement. Will suspected Kell's thoughts weren't as focused and calm as his face appeared, but figured he needed something to occupy his mind other than the clearly unwanted lord Calon.
"Here, you can do this for me." He gestured for the prince to take up the pestle and gave him a few simple instructions on how to grind the root. Will made sure he did it correctly before he went about his own mixture.
Kell did his best but the work at hand couldn't keep him occupied for long and he soon went back to sit on the bed with a sigh. He leaned against the wall and pulled up a knee to wrap both arms around it.
"So this is what a sorcerer does in his spare time?" he asked after a while when the silence had gone on for long enough.
"Well, part of it anyway." Will put the powder with the oil in a jar and sealed it with a bit of cloth and a string, using airkin and spiritkin spells to make the knot secure.
"You don't suppose I could give some of that Maiden's nail to Calon, do you? Then at least I'd only have to look at him."
Will's mouth pulled into a smile. "Then I'd have to come down there and heal him, and our secret of me being a sorcerer would be out."
"True. Though I think I'd like the expression of shock on his face when he'd realize just who he has offended." Kell smiled crookedly. "Or you wouldn't have to heal him, just let him suffer."
"Well, I wouldn't have to hear any more insults, at least," Will agreed.
"Can I join you for supper tonight?" the prince asked suddenly.
Will gave him a surprised, arched eyebrow. "You're asking me? You won't go back to the manor?"
"Yes, but I thought I'd have supper here." Kell plucked at something on his tunic, not meeting Will's eyes.
Will could understand his need for escape, but that Kell would bare his insecurities and weaknesses like this to him? He must be really shaken up. Will frowned with growing concern. "Then I'd be glad for you to join me, my prince. I'm sure Piotry would like the company as well."
"Piotry is back? I thought he'd be gone for a few more days. Is Aron back as well?"
"No, he's asked for extended leave. Why?"
"Just that Calon doesn't like Aron; I'd hoped the old sorcerer would like to come for supper every night and that would make Calon reconsider the length of his visit."
"Sorry to disappoint you."
Kell sighed and got up to stand behind will. "I'll have to manage. But you'll do just as well." His hands slid into Will's hair and turned his face around for a brief kiss. "I'm getting hungry," Kell murmured against his lips. "Do you think your plants will do without you for a few hours?"
"I think they will, I'm mostly done anyway." How could he resist that persuasive kiss and those deep eyes, they seemed to have regained some of their usual brilliance. Will went over to the washbasin to wash his hands and face.
"What's this vial?" he heard the prince ask.
Will turned and saw the vial Piotry had given him being investigated by Kell. "It's nothing," he blurted out and quickly snatched it before the cork was unplugged. He slipped it swiftly into his belt pouch where it would be safe from the prince's curious finger. "Let's go see if the cook has made anything delicious for supper."
Will pulled a smiling prince with him out of the room and set about to find Piotry. It was Piotry's fault he was blushing so deeply, and he may as well let the redheaded sorcerer deal with Kell and save Will from the predicament.
* * * * * * * *
Kell cursed and buried his face deeper into the pillow when Janu announced it was morning and pulled back the drapes to let in the sunshine. Sometimes Kell plain just hated the fact that he had a bedroom with windows facing east.
"I've brought your breakfast, my prince," Janu informed as usual. "And your guest lord Calon informed me he wishes to see the city today and hopes that you will join him."
Kell grumbled something that thankfully was mostly muffled by the pillow. "Tell the lord I'm sick and dying and can't get out of bed. He can go see the city on his own."
"Now now, my prince. That's not the way to treat a guest."
Kell stiffened and hardly remembered to breathe when that smooth voice chided him from so very close by the bed. He lifted his head just a bit to peer blearily at Calon. The lord was as usual dressed in meticulously well fitted clothes, today a deep purple coat embroidered with silver thread, black breeches and well polished, very expensive leather boots. And he was standing right next to Kell's bed with a serene expression on his face and an intense gleam in his eyes. Kell suppressed a shiver.
"What are you doing in my private rooms uninvited?" Kell frowned up at Calon who just shrugged and turned to tell Janu the prince no longer needed his services. Janu hastily left after one last anxious glance at the prince.
"I need an invitation?" Calon asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "I never needed one before."
Kell slowly sat up and inched out of Calon's reach. Gods, his heart was racing. "You do need one now and would you please leave to let me dress in peace."
Kell made sure Calon saw the stern look on his face. Discretely he pulled the covers further up his chest, acutely aware of his nakedness and vulnerability in this situation.
Calon rose ever so gracefully and gave Kell a stripping look, he too knowing the prince slept naked. "I hope your mood has improved by the time we set out into the city. It would be a shame to spend such a lovely day guarding every word in fear of your temper, my prince." Calon left the room and the suite with those words, and Kell wished he had a very sharp blade under his pillow to throw after him. He wondered dismally if there would even be any blood or if the lord's cool heart had frozen it in his veins.
Kell sighed and raked a hand through his hair in frustration only to realize it was still braided, if not frayed and messed. Terrific, not only had Calon managed to slip into his bedroom, but he had done it on the worst possible morning to see Kell hung over and grumpy.
Gods, how much ale had he downed last night? Enough to have a headache thumping behind his eyes and a sour taste in his mouth. He made good use of the privy and the bathroom, cleaning his body, hair and teeth with great care, before even considering breakfast. It didn't look too tempting but he took a piece of apple and a cup of tea to mellow his hangover a bit.
He had been so very reluctant to leave the keep last night, to go from the very agreeable and entertaining company of the sorcerers and a few of his men, to the cool and very disdainful lord Calon. And Will had looked so very beautiful, giving him almost shy yet curious looks from time to time in-between wide smiles and refilling of his ale.
He blinked with dawning comprehension. So it was Will's fault he had a headache this morning. He should march up to the keep and have the sorcerer fix it. And what were those looks about anyway? And that strange vial with the pleasant smell stealing out from under the cork that Will had snatched with a very appealing blush on his cheeks. It seemed the sorcerer had secrets. Kell grinned, he would make sure to ask him and get answers to all his questions.
There was a knock on his door as he buckled his belt and Janu entered again. He had a slightly worried wrinkle between his eyebrows.
"My prince, I apologize for leaving earlier, but the lord…" he began and Kell quieted him with a gesture and a faint smile.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Janu." He understood the man's dilemma, answering to the prince or a very well respected noble with that attitude. And it was not like Kell would have hid behind Janu's presence either. His pride wouldn't allow it even if his fears would have made him gladly do it.
"Well, thank you, my prince." He seemed a bit relieved and then cleared his throat. "There's a messenger at the gates, my prince. He says he has a package from the seamstress Mera."
Kell looked up and smiled, the day suddenly seemed so much brighter. "Good. Bring me the package and pay the messenger." He set off for the doors. "And have my horse saddled; I'm going to the keep."
"What about lord Calon, my prince?"
"He can see the city on his own. He's been here before and knows his way around."
Janu nodded and hurried away down the hall, a mixed expression on his face, not very pleased to have to relay Kell's message to the lord, no doubt.
Kell was out in the courtyard waiting for his horse when lord Calon found him. "My prince, I thought we were going to the see the city," he said tightly and didn't sound too happy that Kell was leaving.
"I'm going to the keep. I have business to attend to." A stable boy hurried out with his horse and he fastened the package to the pommel.
"And it can't wait? You used to take better care of your guests," Calon said testily.
Kell bit his teeth together and turned to look straight at him. "I do take care of my guests when I invite them, and they know I'm not always available to entertain them when I have an army to command and a city to take care of." He spun and swung up in the saddle.
"But we are not at war anymore," he heard Calon say as he kicked the horse forward and rode out the gates, his guards half a step behind him. Kell refused to let Calon's mood and words get to him, not now when he was going to see Will. The short ride up to the keep helped calm his temper.
He met Piotry in the keep courtyard and the sorcerer gave him a wide smile and a pat on the shoulder. Kell wondered what that was for.
"Do you know where Will is?" he asked.
"I believe he's in the infirmary seeing to a man who took a tumble down the bailey steps last night, but he should be done in a short while." Piotry gave the package under Kell's arm a curious glance. "So, making good friends with the young sorcerer?"
Kell blinked. "Say what?"
"Oh, just wondering," Piotry said lightly, shrugging a little. "Since Will got that new salve I was just curious to know if it worked well or not."
Kell frowned a bit puzzled and decided to go find Will before he blurted out something inappropriate to the redheaded sorcerer. He didn't see the smile or hear the amused chuckle Piotry muffled behind a hand.
Will was sitting on a stool next to the bed where the injured man lay, one of the sorcerer's hands on the man's forehead and the other gently grasping a wrist. He was obviously healing the man because none of them saw or heard Kell enter. He decided to sit down on an empty bed and wait.
Will soon released the man's wrist but kept his hand still a while longer on his forehead, a wrinkle appeared between his dark eyebrows as the concentration deepened.
Calon should see Will now, Kell thought with a smile. Then who'd be the pleasure boy. Kell wanted to see the expression on the lord's face when he realized who Will actually was; he knew it would be priceless.
Will opened his eyes and pulled the blanket up over the now sleeping man's chest, before he rose and quietly came over to Kell. "My prince," he greeted with a smile and a studying look. "You seem well today."
Kell gave him a narrow eyed look in return, though he couldn't hide that he wasn't truly displeased with the sorcerer. "Well, I did have a headache this morning but I'm fine now, thank you."
Will grinned and went over to a large washbasin to clean his hands. He gave the package a curious look. "Is that the clothes?"
Kell gave it a pat. "Yes. And I must say I'm eager to see what they look like."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Well, then we should find out. I'm done here for now and Piotry's back in an hour, so we can leave."
"And him?" Kell nodded at the man a few beds away.
"Concussion and a broken wrist. He'll be sleeping for a while."
Will led the way out of the infirmary and past the tall, narrow windows facing one of the inner courtyards. Distantly, muffled by the thick walls and glass, they could hear the sound of singing. Fair voices mixed occasionally with darker ones, and Kell had to stop and look out a window to see who was singing, it was beautiful.
"The maids sing when they work, to keep the rhythm, they say." Will came to stand by Kell's side and looked out into the courtyard.
Mirja was one of the maids and soldiers, Kell realized amazed, that were singing. So she wasn't just pretty and polite and quite appealingly shy, but had a beautiful voice as well. Kell felt this bottom lip pouting out and carefully straightened his features before Will noticed.
"Come," the young sorcerer said and pulled the prince with him towards the stairs, seemingly ignorant of Kell's jealousy.
There was a pungent smell in Will's room despite the open window when they entered.
"What is that?" Kell asked and had to blink to clear his eyes of a sudden rush of tears.
"It's the Maiden's nail, it emits off quite a strong smell when it's been mixed with the oil and Hedge root, but it dissipates soon." Will walked over to the table and rearranged the jars and bowls, putting a piece of cloth over the one with the mixing, and made an odd little gesture over the impromptu lid. The air quickly cleared of the smell.
"So," Kell handed him the package and flopped down on the bed. "Let's see how your new clothes fit, shall we?"
Will gave him a look. "I'm not dressing up for you. Not unless you can give me a good reason."
Kell caught himself staring at the small, almost devilish smile on the sorcerer's lips. Intriguing. He decided to play along, pursed his lips and shrugged. "How about a day with the prince? Perhaps a ride outside the walls, lunch at the best tavern in the city, supper at the manor. Things like that?" Kell listed all the things he undoubtedly knew lord Calon had wanted to do.
"And after supper?" the sorcerer asked, giving him a sidelong look that Kell would have liked to call sly if he didn't know better.
"Who knows? Perhaps we can figure out a way to use that new salve of yours?" Kell knew he was fumbling a bit with that question, but he was not stupid, and judging by Piotry's flippant comment and the distinctly red tone Will's face flushed with, it had it the mark.
"Gods!" Will hissed. "How did you know?" He looked embarrassed all of a sudden, clutching the package to his chest.
"Piotry can't always keep his mouth shut."
Will frowned then, his cheeks still a bit red. "I'll teach him silence," he said darkly.
Kell stretched out his long limbs across the bed with a little victory smile. This was going to be fun, making the sorcerer blush always was. "So, where is this miracle salve? Can I see it?"
Will shot him an anxious glance. "Well... no..."
"Why not? If I'm to partake in its use I think I have a right to know what it is." Simple logic, Will couldn't deny that.
There was a brief hesitation. "It's over there," Will mumbled and gestured towards the shelves next to the washbasin. Kell turned to look and discovered to his dismay that there were at least two dozen jars and vials, how could he find the right one when he actually had no idea what he was looking for? After an annoyed look at Will he realized that was why the sorcerer had given in so easily. None the less, Kell set about to investigate the shelves and their contents.
Will unwrapped his new clothes as the prince curiously and carefully took out and unstopped one jar after another. Some smells he encountered were just horrific and made him gag or his eyes tear, and others were sweet and tempting enough to make him want to eat it, whatever it was. He asked Will about a few of them and he soon decided he would never learn the art of healing, too messy.
He thought once or twice that he had found the right one, but Will matter-of-factly described the ingredients and its use, and Kell gingerly put it away again. He sighed, frustrated after going through the shelves and turned to give Will a scolding for fooling him, but the words died on his tongue. Will had changed to his new breeches and the deep forest green tunic. Kell had to admit Mera truly knew her profession; there were simple yet intricately made embroideries of leafs and stylized puffs of wind in a dark auburn color circling the neck and the wide wrists of the tunic. Will was frowning at the beautiful clasps in the shape of night-flowers as he tried to buckle them, to cover the soft cotton shirt that was visible underneath and, Kell guessed, to save his modesty.
The other tunic was just as beautiful judging by what he glimpsed under the paper wrapping, dark brown with similar clasps and embroideries in bright copper color. Mera must have worked hers and her assistants' fingers raw to have the clothes done so quickly. Kell wondered how many of her other customers she had had to reschedule to serve her liege. Kell would make sure to send her an extra bonus to make up for the lost business, he decided as he crossed the room to help Will with the clasps.
"Like this. It's a tricky design these ones, but they won't come open unasked for." He brushed away Will's fingers and slowly closed the clasps to show Will how it was done. But then he changed his mind and opened them again to lean forward and press his lips against that very tempting expanse of bared collarbone. Once again his body's voice of lust and need spoke louder than his mind's voice of reason and fear. It seemed the near intimacy with the sorcerer did that to him even now.
Will shuddered and grabbed his shoulders with both hands. "My prince, we shouldn't..."
"Yes, we should," Kell interrupted and brushed his tongue teasingly up Will's neck. "How else are we going to make use of that salve, which you by the way haven't let me see yet?"
Will's fingers dug painfully into his shoulders as Kell fastened his lips to that sensitive spot right below an ear. Gods, but the moan that slipped past Will's parted lips made the ache rush to life between Kell's thighs.
"And what about our ride and that lunch?" Will asked when he had pulled a breath.
"Later."
"And your guest?"
Lord Calon. Kell stopped with his hands just short of pulling up Will's tunic and sighed irritably. "You always know just how to ruin the mood, don't you?" He let go of Will as the lust evaporated from his loins, just the thought of Calon was enough to accomplish that.
Will didn't meet his eyes. "I'm just saying there's better times and places for this."
"Yes? Like when? Where? Is there ever going to be one?" Kell could hear the frustration in his own voice but couldn't and wouldn't hide it. There was only for so long he was able to wait before it became unbearable, both the lust and the fear, and he needed to exorcise his demons before it all became too much.
Will shot him a glance. "I'm off duty for the rest of the day," he said quietly. "I thought perhaps I could spend it with you so you don't have to be alone with lord Calon."
Kell blinked, so the day wasn't over yet. "Well, I'd like your company. I suspect Calon won't be too happy with me running off like I did this morning. Perhaps your presence can stave off his retaliation for a bit."
"And keep you in control, my prince," Will smiled teasingly. "We all know that temper of yours can get you into trouble at times."
Kell mock-chided the sorcerer for that and they left his rooms. In the hallway outside they bumped into the maid Mirja and she blinked for a moment before she really recognized Will in his new clothes.
"Oh, master sorcerer," she said and shyly turned down her eyes. Damn the girl for being so appealing.
"Mirja," Will greeted and she blushed at the gentle utterance of her name.
"There's a messenger at the gate for you, my prince," she continued and gave Kell a glance through rich lashes.
"Thank you, Mirja," Kell said and gave her a charming smile. She blushed again and curtsied so deep Kell thought she'd fall over.
He pulled Will with him down the stairs and shot a glance over his shoulder, but Mirja was already headed in the other direction. "Not going to happen," Kell murmured against Will's ear.
"What is?" he asked confused.
"You and her. You're mine and I won't let you go just because of a shy smile and pretty eyes."
"Mirja? What makes you think I'd want her?"
"Well, don't you? She's surely pretty enough, and it's quite obvious she would like to have you."
Will considered that for a moment. "Perhaps I'd say yes to her if circumstances were different."
"Different how?"
Will met Kell's eyes without hesitating. "Like if I didn't have you, my prince. If you hadn't already claimed me for your own."
The smile and look on his face made Kell want to push him up against the wall and truly let the sorcerer know just who he belonged to.
The messenger proved to be one of Kell's servants and the message was a lot less pleasant than he could've hoped for.
"My prince," the young man began and bowed. "Lord Calon sent me to ask you to return to the manor. The ladies Eoline, Reanne and Chaleen have just arrived."
Kell sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "Fine. I'll be there shortly." He gestured for the servant he was allowed to leave.
"Ladies?" Will asked.
"Yes. I had nearly forgotten. Calon told me they were coming, he said they were glad to know the prince was well and back in the city, and now they're here to join in the festivities." Kell grimaced and crossed his arms over his chest as they waited for the horses to be saddled and the guards to reassemble from around the keep.
"And I suppose they're noble women from court," Will added dryly.
"Yes, they're just like Lanille, only more calculating in their choices of acquaintances and if you don't keep a hand on you breeches they'll be down around your ankles before you know it."
"And you know this from personal experience?" Will gave him an arched eyebrow.
Kell scowled and preferred not to talk about it; it would be painfully obvious once the lady Chaleen got her hands on him.
So now there were two large coaches in the manor courtyard and four more horses with shining coats, and yet another array of guards and archers and a very disdainful guard captain to house. Kell wondered if he could send the visiting guards up to the keep where they at least would have enough room for all their pride and courtly manners. During the past year among honest and straightforward soldiers he'd almost forgotten how the servants and guards at court took after their masters. Not to mention how the nobles themselves behaved at times.
But he was blatantly reminded now when the ladies Eoline, Reanne and Chaleen began chattering and fussing and stealing touches as soon as he stepped into the parlor. Lady Eoline lead them of course, and like her brother she was tall and slender with black hair neatly swept back into a tight knot behind her head, riddled with small porcelain flowers in the same pale purple color as her silk dress. Here eyes were as grey and piercing as Calon's, but where his had a cool edge hers were warm, though no less calculating.
Ladies Reanne and Chaleen were not quite as cool-hearted as the siblings, but they were much more intrusive and obvious in their advances. Reanne with her red hair piled high in an intricate formation and her round lips never late to give the prince – or any noble man, for that matter – a smile or a pout that would ensure she got her way.
And lady Chaleen, whom had spent a number of nights in the prince's private rooms when he was still at court. She stroked back a blond curl with a slender hand and somehow managed to loop her velvet-clad arm through Kell's without him noticing how or when it happened.
Kell tried to disentangle himself from the persistent women and threw Will a pleading glance where he stood silently a few steps behind. He watched the noble spectacle with cool eyes and a calm that he only showed in meditation. Kell wondered what he was thinking.
"Ah, ladies, ladies." Lord Calon walked up to them slowly and elegantly as a prowling predator, and reluctantly the women gave the prince more room. "I thought you'd behave like the courteous ladies you are and not rush head over heals at the prince," Calon mock-chided them gently and Reanne blushed slightly which, if you asked Kell, she probably did on purpose whenever it suited her plans.
Calon turned cool eyes on Kell and the prince straightened his back to meet the look.
"Ladies," Kell turned to the women after only a moment, unnerved at the intensity in the lord's gaze. "I didn't expect you to come all the way up here just to see me." He graced them with a little smile. "You must be very tired after your journey; there are suites ready for you in the west wing if you need to lie down for a while."
"That's very gracious of you, my prince," Eoline said and inclined her head just a bit. "But today's journey wasn't really that exhausting, we left from Lembam just this morning."
"Yes, just the thought of finally seeing you again, my prince, was enough to keep us going," Reanne joined in and gave him that inviting smile. Kell tried not to cringe.
Gods of mercy, please save me! Kell begged silently as Chaleen yet again inched forward and placed a hand on his arm.
Once Kell would have welcomed the attention lavished on him now, thrived on it, but it seemed a year in the field had taught him the true values in life. And the current company and their calculated fawning were not one of them.
Eoline noticed Will's silent presence then and she tilted her head, smiling gently at him, like he was a small child to be calmed and coaxed forward into the room. "Good day," she greeted him. "And who might you be? One of the prince's new noble acquaintances from the city?"
Calon barely managed to muffle his snort. "This is the young man I told you about; though it seems he's had a change of clothes, thank the gods."
Will never let his calm expression slip but Kell saw the fire ignite in his eyes and the thinning of his lips. The sorcerer stepped up to Kell's side and gave them all a short nod by way of greeting.
"What? No introduction?" Calon asked and gave Will a look along the edge of his sharp nose.
"I don't really think that's necessary, my lord, when you have already determined who I am," Will answered coolly in a manner well suited for the company, his speech had suddenly become much more articulate and held an educated flair. Kell stared for a moment before he caught himself.
"Hmm, seems he has quite a temper, this one. Are you sure he's suitable for you, my prince?"
"Either one of you lay one hand on him and your visit here is cut very short." Kell knew that was a really bad choice of words as soon as he had uttered them, but he was already fed up with these annoying guests and couldn't stop himself. Will was one of those Kell valued now and he had already wronged him once, he'd make sure it didn't happen again. Even if that meant he'd be making himself a few enemies.
Only Calon seemed not surprised by Kell's outburst and his eyes shifted from Kell to Will to recalculate his value. That look made Kell want to take a step in front of Will to save him from the piercing gaze.
"Have you anything planned for the day, my prince?" Eoline asked as soon as she had gathered her composure. "Otherwise I suggest time spent in you lovely garden on a day like this. It would be just perfect and you can tell us everything about the war and the battles you've participated in." She smiled at him and Chaleen urged Kell forward towards the terrace doors and the main garden outside.
* * * * * * * * *
So the prince spent the next few hours talking about the war and all the hardships his men had gone through, hardly mentioning the all too rare moments of the simple joy of sharing dinner with good comrades, or the thrill of victory and seeing so many of his men unharmed after a battle. These guests wouldn't understand or appreciate it. They only wanted the harsh and bloody details and that's what they got, perhaps at times too detailed, but Kell couldn't help a small malicious thrill coarse through him when Reanne paled and dabbed at her lips with her napkin, her eyes flicking away.
Kell didn't really care for the subject, at least not with these listeners for they knew nothing about the real world but what they chose to see. They were even worse in a way than Lanille.
When the usual small-talk began after the afternoon tea and the ladies once again did their best to flatter and charm the prince, Kell noticed that they all in turn left his company to get Will on his own with them. What they spoke of in their brief conversations Kell had no way of knowing, but the topic must have been unexpected for the ladies all returned with various degrees of shock or wide-eyed amazement on their flushed faces. Reanne, for one, was desperately flapping her feather fan over the cleavage of her green dress.
Kell shot Will a curious glance but his face was still pure, unreadable calm.
Supper passed much in the same fashion, but now Calon began to make it clear just what he thought of having an alleged pleasure boy at the table. Kell wondered what Will had or hadn't said during the day to dispute that false assumption, but he never got the chance to ask before Chaleen stole him away back out into the garden.
"My prince, it's so good to see you again," she murmured and gave his arm a little squeeze as she pressed her breast against it. Kell became acutely aware of her curves through the suddenly inadequate layers of cloth separating them. He swallowed and tried not to squirm.
"I truly worried about you every time the king was to make an announcement concerning the war," the lady went on. "But you seem to be well for a man so recently home from battle."
Kell stifled a snort. "That's what lord Calon said and, yes, I'm well and intend to stay that way."
"I'm glad to hear it. But you weren't so 'well' this morning, or at least so I heard from Calon. He claimed you were quite out of sorts."
"I had a headache," Kell said shortly and bit his teeth together. Just how much had Calon told them?
"I understand. But I really have to say it must have been all that plain ale you surely had at the keep, you never could stomach that stuff. You always preferred wine, if I remember correctly."
"Well, you can't always have wine when you're out in the field and you get used to it." Although, Janu had always seemed to find a very fine bottle every time Kell had desperately wanted one.
"And drinking in the company of your men, my prince. Isn't that slightly beneath your status?" Chaleen asked with a disdainful little wrinkle to her nose.
That did it. "Those men are more loyal and honest than any of you could ever be. I drink with them because I owe them my life and my father's kingdom. And you probably owe them your life as well, because without them defending our borders there's no telling what would've happened to your pretty little body if we had been invaded. King Uriche doesn't bother to restrain his men from thievery and rape and murder."
Chaleen's eyes grew wider and her complexion paled with every one of Kell's words, and when it seemed like she would faint or cry from the harsh report he almost regretted speaking so frankly. But only almost. She had no right to speak of his men like they were worth nothing, when it in fact was quite the opposite.
Kell at least composed himself to escort the now very silent lady back inside and only half an hour later she announced she was retiring for the evening. Eoline and Reanne stayed a while longer, but when the men seemed to have used up all their socializing skills they too left for the night. So Kell found himself sitting in an armchair opposite lord Calon, with Will occupying a divan in a blatant, laidback manner Kell had never thought the sorcerer capable of. Will was lazily sipping his wine, and gave the prince and the lord cool looks from time to time.
"The ladies are hoping for a ride outside the walls tomorrow, perhaps a picnic," lord Calon was saying, as he gave Will a disapproving look out of the corner of his eye. "Eoline brought her falcon and was hoping to let it stretch its wings."
Kell preferred to leave the manor rather than staying in all day in this company; the rooms were even now beginning to feel too close and suffocating for comfort. A ride would be a good excuse to get out. "A ride it is then."
Will stirred on his divan and told them he was going to bed, for a moment Kell feared he was leaving the manor altogether, but Will gave him a brief, calming glance and bid them goodnight.
Calon hardly waited for him to leave the room before he began spewing foul words. "Really, my prince," he said with disgust plain in his voice, "he's so beneath you. He has no manners and he's managed quite nicely to upset my sister and her ladies. I'd very much like to see you have him kicked out before word gets around. It's not proper to have… individuals… like him around."
Kell leaned forward in his chair and locked eyes with the lord. He wouldn't let this backtalk slip past him again, Will was worth so much better. "You are in no position to tell me what's proper. I am the prince, and as long as he shows me better behavior than you and the ladies, he's allowed to stay." He put down his empty glass and rose. "If you excuse me, lord Calon. I've had a long day and tomorrow don't seem to become any better. I'm retiring for the night." He turned and stalked out of the room with Calon's eyes piercing through his back.
It wasn't until he reached his rooms that he felt how his heart was beating, hammering fast against his ribs, and it was nothing short of a relief to close the door and curse out loud, long and vehemently. And him, pulling rank over Calon in such a pitiful manner. He grimaced at himself and wondered what had become of him to resort to such tactics.
Gods, but he could hardly stand them even after one day, and to think he had not been much different before the war. And he regretted none of the words he had uttered this day, though he had probably made himself an enemy or two. Both Calon's and Chaleen's families were rich and powerful; Calon's father, the lord of the Shaeraban family, was a great supporter of the king, while Chaleen's mother was a lady in waiting to the queen.
Kell sighed deeply and went through his bedroom to undress and clean himself in the copper bathtub in the bathroom. He felt a bit better with fresh, clean skin and hair, and decided he could handle tomorrow, at least as long as Will was there.
As if the thought of him had drawn him there, the sorcerer appeared silently in the open terrace doors. Kell started and blinked before he realized who it was.
"Will. Gods, don't sneak up on me like that."
"I'm sorry, but I had to see you." He came into the room and stopped only feet away from Kell.
"Something wrong?" he wondered and felt just a bit uneasy under the very close, scrutinizing look the sorcerer gave him. Absently he pulled the sash of his silk robe a bit tighter around his waist; he was still feeling a little unbalanced after a day spent with his visitors from court.
"No, just wanted to make sure you're alright."
"I'm fine, though I may have offended my guests quite badly. I'm afraid I haven't been very diplomatic." He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "I have a feeling tomorrow won't be a very pleasant day."
"Then we both have ourselves to blame. I don't think the ladies appreciate my company." Will went to sit down in a chair.
"Yes, lord Calon said something about you shocking them. Whatever did you say to them?"
Will smiled crookedly. "Only what they wanted to hear, but I guess my words of choice were a bit too... colorful for their delicate ears."
Kell was intrigued now. "Please, what did you say? Let me partake in the fun. Perhaps I can use some of it to rid myself of them when they become too annoying." He sank down in the other chair and waited for Will to begin. When he did, after a bit of hesitation, it was enough to make the prince stare at him, wide eyed.
Will had told the ladies a number of very detailed descriptions of what a "pleasure boy" did during a usual working day, and Kell realized he had never even considered some of it could even be done.
"You said that?" he asked, not a little amazed, perhaps a bit scandalized. "No wonder Calon doesn't approve of you. How come you know all this?"
Will shrugged. "Well, my master was the only healer in Diamban that would help the pleasure girls with unwanted conditions, and somehow these women always managed to give very elaborate stories of just how they had gotten 'the little problem', as they called it."
"And you could say all this to the ladies without blushing?" Kell teased.
"You are the only one who makes me blush, my prince." Will's eyelids lowered slightly as he gave Kell a close look.
Kell smiled and shrugged, again a bit uneasy. What was the matter with him? He suddenly felt very self-conscious, the robe wasn't really proper attire for an audience with the sorcerer, not nearly enough to make him feel comfortable. He needed to get out from under the sorcerer's stare, and got up to stretch his back and start turning out the oil lamps around the room. He left the one by the bed burning, it was all he needed this late but the lesser light would hide his blushing cheeks.
Hands slid around his waist and a body pressed against his back before he had a chance to react. "Can I stay the night?" Will murmured against the back of Kell's hair and fingertips drew small circles across his stomach through the robe. Kell's heart started pounding against his ribs at the words and the rush of blood in his veins helped block out any coherent thoughts.
"Yes. Oh, yes." Kell leaned back and let Will's hand move up his chest, a curious finger slipping inside the robe to tickle bare skin. The other hand then began a slow journey down Kell's torso to tease close enough to his groin to awake deeper urges, but without ever touching. Will's breath against his shoulder heated the silk of his robe to his skin. It became too much.
Kell turned around in Will's arms, he dove right in and pressed his mouth to Will's, seizing hold of Will's head with one hand behind his neck and the other in his rich hair. Will's lips parted to let Kell plunge his tongue into the willing mouth and his hands found and knotted in the lapels of Kell's robe. Will pulled him closer, deepening the kiss, and Kell's heart sang with the feeling of the young sorcerer's tongue meeting and sparring with his for dominancy. He didn't want it to ever stop.
But eventually they had to break apart for air and by then they were both breathing hard. Will's head dropped to rest on Kell's shoulder.
"Gods of earth and air," he managed to get out between breaths.
"I agree." Kell smiled and hugged Will closer, arms around his shoulders and waist. "What prompted you to come here tonight?"
Will laughed a bit shyly, even after the heated embrace they had shared. "I guess I get a bit possessive with Chaleen showing she so obviously wants you for herself."
And protective, Kell thought he heard the unspoken words, with the way lord Calon's interest was aimed so intensely on the prince. Will's hands moved down Kell's back to caress his buttocks and a burning began in the pit of his stomach.
"Are you sure you want this now, Will?" he had to ask. He had to hear Will say it out loud or he wouldn't dare believe it. He wouldn't dare try it.
There was a moment's hesitation that seemed unbearably long to Kell when the sorcerer raised his head to look at him, and Kell thought the moment was lost yet again. But Will surprised him.
"Yes, I'm sure." His voice was low and rich as ever, a slightly hoarse edge to it, and it made a shiver rush up Kell's spine. Will pressed close and found Kell's mouth, slipped his hands around Kell's neck and into long, golden and still damp hair. The prince happily received the kiss and then took it further.
They both knew it would come to this, and although Kell had wanted it for so long now, he couldn't help but to feel a certain amount of panic growing in his chest. What if he did it wrong? What if Will didn't like it? Kell hadn't enjoyed it at all those two half attempted tries when he was younger and now when he really wanted it he lacked the experience to handle it properly, the kind of knowledge he wanted to share with Will. Hesitation ran its fingers through him.
If Will sensed it he didn't let it show or stop him. Easy as ever to let his instincts guide him, he slid one hand down Kell's chest to find the sash and the knot that held the robe together. Kell's heart beat faster as deft sorcerer's fingers undid the knot. He looked into Will's eyes, past lowered, thick lashes into pools of deep brown, a bit glazed and dilated. Will was breathing heavily too.
"You know how to go about this?" Kell didn't want to admit his inexperience and fears, but he had to know. If Will did he'd be happy to let the sorcerer take over and learn from him instead of messing this precious moment up with clumsiness.
"No," Will murmured. "I don't. I've never shared a bed with a man, remember?" He smiled though, and Kell was reassured by the need evident in his eyes and voice. It didn't matter. Will didn't care. To him, they being intimate like this were enough.
And Kell hoped it would be enough, he wasn't sure he would be able to go very far, not tonight with all that had happened and with the people he had to entertain. But perhaps if they took it slow, if Will was gentle and patient, he had trust enough for Will to try then. But there were fears to overcome first.
"We'll go slowly then," Kell murmured, to himself as much as to Will.
The sorcerer nodded and slipped a hand in under the silk robe to find a nipple and roll it gently between his fingers. "Like?" he asked when Kell shuddered.
"Yes," Kell husked, his heartbeat once more drowning out his chaotic mind.
"Then I'll give you more of that."
Kell sighed as his nipple tingled to life under Will's touch and lust and deep need coursed through his body. Their eyes locked and Kell gasped when Will smiled. So beautiful, so passionate, so sexy. He needed to have those eyes always watching him; he wanted to feels those lips against his own. He kissed Will again without hesitation.
His own hands went to Will's clothes and even though he was used to the clasps on the tunic he had to break the kiss to get them open, his hands were suddenly trembling. Then he grinned happily when the clasps opened to let him claim new territory.
"You're so beautiful," he murmured against Will's skin between kisses. "Like a magical creature from a fairytale."
"Well, in a way I am kind of magical," Will smiled and tilted his head to give Kell more room to kiss his throat from bared collarbone to chin.
That reminded Kell of something and he reluctantly stopped in his ministrations. Will grunted in protest. "Is she here now?" he asked and Will looked questioning at him.
"Who?"
"Your guardian? Can she see us?" That was a somewhat unsettling thought.
Will smiled and a light blush crept up his cheeks. "Yes, she's here, she sees." His head tilted to one side and the smile faded, a small wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. "Does it bother you?"
"I don't know," he said slowly, considering. "What does she think about this? You and I, I mean?"
"She says it is okay," Will reassured.
"I thought guardians wanted their sorcerers to have offspring to pass to after death?" That last word felt awkward to utter right then. "There will be no offspring between us, you realize."
Will blinked for a moment and then laughed, the sound warm and deep. "Yes, she would like offspring one day, but she would settle for my sister's children. And she says you're good to me. You make me happy and happy is good."
Kell felt relieved at those words, even though he wondered if the guardian had worded it as simply as that. "I only make you happy?" he asked with a sly smile and slid his hands down Will's back under his tunic, over the soft cotton of his shirt to circle strong fingertips in the small of his back.
Will's smile widened to reveal perfect teeth and let out a warm, heavy breath. "No, you make me ache and burn with want."
"What do you want?" He needed to hear it.
"You," came the answer, deep and husky. "I want you, my prince."
That made the ache between Kell's thighs grow deeper and he pulled Will against him with a strangled cry to press it, soothe it against his body. Will pressed back and moaned at the lips and teeth running up his neck to find an earlobe.
"Like?" Kell shot Will's question back at him.
"Yes," Will panted.
"Want?"
"Yes!"
"I'll give you more, then."
It was so easy to be courageous now, with this willing, warm and generous man in his arms. Kell thought nothing of it when Will pushed at his robe and he shrugged out of it without lifting his lips from Will's neck. When his arms were freed he grabbed Will's tunic to pull it off, baring more skin, and it too fell to the floor.
They started to move towards the bed in the other room, Will discarding his boots on the way in a hurry that threatened to topple them both more than once. Will's shirt was easier to untie than the clasps of his tunic since Kell's hands had stopped trembling, at least out of nervousness, and Kell grinned at the pleasing sight of bared torso, covered in smooth skin over lean, hard muscles. His questing mouth and fingers found the scar down the left pectoral just shy of the nipple and he set about kissing the length of it. It seemed the scar tissue was sensitive; Will moved his arm to give ample room and almost purred with what Kell knew to be pleasure.
He slid his hands down a flat belly as his lips and tongue shifted from scar to nipple – how could he not when the two lay so close together. And it seemed Will liked the attention, the nipple swiftly stiffening to a pebble under Kell's lips. His fingers tangled in the lacings of Will's breeches and he grunted in annoyance when the knot refused to come undone. He remembered these knots from another attempt at intimacy, and wondered what it was with sorcerers and knots and why they couldn't tie them like normal people?
Although sorcerers weren't normal people, he admitted to himself, and that only spurred him on to try harder.
Will's breeches were pushed down his hips soon enough, though, with a little help from the sorcerer, and Kell took a precious moment to look at the body before him. The sorcerer stood with his weight slightly shifted on one foot, fingers fluttering up across his stomach and hips, and looked back at Kell with unabashed, smoldering eyes under lowered lashes. His desire was evident and erect as if to beckon Kell closer again. It was the most beautiful vision Kell had ever seen and he needed it to be only his.
He grasped Will's hips and ground his body hard against the others, garnering a groan and a smile for it.
It was never a question of lying down on the bed, it just happened between one urgent, devouring kiss and the next. Kell pinned Will under him, desperate to touch him and feel as much of him as possible. Desperate to drown out what his mind was whispering at him from dark corners. Not now! He pressed their groins together to block it all out and be in the now.
Will thrust up with his hips and his erection jutted into Kell's belly, sliding along his own, and Kell wrenched his eyes open to look down at the sorcerer. Will, no one else. Safe. Needing and needed.
Kell felt his erection had softened a little when memories came unbidden, and he trembled with panic at not being able to go through with this when he wanted it so much. He snaked a hand down Will's arm to twine fingers with fingers.
"Touch me?" he asked, almost begged, and moved both their hands in between their bodies. Will looked into his eyes, his eyebrows slightly drawn and his lips parting as if he was about to say something.
"Please, Will." Kell couldn't take a 'No' right now, nor any questions; he thought he might cry he wanted, needed to feel Will's touch so much.
And then those deft, strong fingers skimmed down his belly, brushed tentatively against the hair around the base of Kell's erection, tangled in it. When Kell bit his lower lip to hold back a moan of expectation, Will slid his hand further down and then his fingertips were on Kell's aching cock. His body jumped at the sudden and very careful touch, and his hips dipped instinctively to grind against Will's, his hand trapped between them.
When Kell forced control back over his body and looked down Will was blinking at him. "I'm sorry," Kell murmured. "I didn't mean to startle you." He brushed away the thick bangs from Will's forehead and bent down to kiss him. "Please, again. Touch me."
And Will did, carefully at first, to get a feel for him, the new length and heft, the veins that ran up its underside, and the now weeping tip. When he had sated his first curiosity the grip grew firmer, the movements steadier, and he began long strokes from root to tip and back again.
Kell groaned and arched into the pleasure; let it drown out everything else that had nothing to do with here and now, and the two of them together. He bent down for a deep kiss, slipping his tongue into Will's mouth to caress the wet, hot insides, and snaked a hand out for the nearest nipple.
Kell began to tremble when Will's other hand slipped down to cup his balls, to squeeze them firmly and tickle the skin just behind. He couldn't keep up his kiss, couldn't do much more than just hover there on his arms and knees above Will's body, and soar closer and closer to the inevitable fall over the edge. His breath was short and ragged, his body tingling with pleasure. He tried to keep his eyes open and locked on Will's to allow him to see his pleasure when he came, but the effort was too much.
His eyes clamped shut of their own accord as his body shuddered violently and his balls drew up. Kell cried out as he came, pumping into Will's curled fingers and his seed spurted over both their bellies. Will kept touching even after he was done and the last tremors had passed; soothing overheated skin, cradling Kell's softening sex in his palm. His hands lingered a moment longer and then he lifted them to brush back a strand clinging to Kell's sweat damp face.
Kell opened his eyes then and managed a smile, a happy, tired smile, and bent down to kiss Will again. He made it deep, a kiss to make up for the ones he had missed when his mind had blanked with lust. Will answered it eagerly enough.
"So good," Kell murmured against the sorcerer's lips. "So very good."
Will slipped his tongue out and flicked it over Kell's. "Please, Kell." There was an urgency in his voice that drew attention to him more firmly. "Me."
Kell blinked for a moment and then his cheeks heated in embarrassment and regret; how could he have been so selfish? In his desperate need he had forgotten about Will's pleasure, and now he set about to make up for it.
Will smiled and his thick lashes fluttered down as Kell lay a little to the side to give himself room to discover. His hands began caressing Will's body, palms and fingertips massaging, stroking and teasing every inch of skin they could get at. Kell fastened his mouth to one nipple and smoothed a hand down the length of Will's stomach, circling one hip and then over to the other.
"Oh, gods," Will gasped and tangled one of his legs with Kell's.
With a smile Kell doubled his efforts at that husky utterance. As his hand slid through coarse pubic hair to curl his fingers around Will's erection, he moved his mouth from the moist, pebbled nipple to the other one that was waiting for him. The one with the scar. He looked at it, unaware that his hands had stopped in their ministrations.
"What? Something wrong?" Will slitted his eyes open and looked up, his voice was hoarse and a bit impatient though he tried to hide it.
"So close to your heart," Kell whispered, a cold seizing him as death made its power very clear in that thin line of pale, unsmooth tissue. How small the difference between life and death could be.
Will caught his eyes with his and held them. "But not close enough. I'm not that easy to kill."
"You better not be, sorcerer. I need you to always be by my side." It seemed almost like a command and Kell wanted it to be because he knew Will would do anything in his power to heed it, loyal being that he was.
"I'll be by your side, my prince. I promise." He pulled Kell's face down to kiss him and Kell began stroking again. Will's hips thrust up into his fist and a sharp breath escaped between their lips.
"Don't stop," Will begged.
"I won't." And Kell held that promise. He kissed his way up the length of the scar, wanting to cover it with the joy and pleasure of this intimate act, to hide it with his lips and tongue. And when it wasn't enough he continued further up Will's shoulder and neck, all the while firmly stroking and squeezing the hard, hot erection in his hand. From the root to the tip and back down again, then shifting his hand around a bit to run his thumb up along the veins on the underside on the next stroke. It felt like burning silk against this palm.
Will's breath was coming shallow and short out of his lungs now. One of his hands moved down between his legs past Kell's working one to cup his balls, as if he wanted to prolong the pleasure, and the other hand snaked up around Kell's neck to tangle in his hair.
"Oh, gods, I'm close."
That was all the warning Kell got before every muscle in Will's body clenched tight and he came with one last forceful thrust of his hips. His seed spurted up over his stomach to mingle with Kell's that was still there and the prince watched as more of it fell into the dark hair around Will's cock and then onto his hand. Amazing. Beautiful.
Then he became aware of the cramped grip around his neck and for an instant he had to shut his eyes and bite the inside of his lip not to scream. Then the grip loosened and he could breathe again. Kell opened his eyes and shifted a bit to look at Will's face. To his surprise the eyes that were looking dazedly back at him were no longer brown, but golden. He blinked and looked closer. Golden like they were on fire.
"Will?" he asked tentatively. "Are you alright?"
Will slowed his breaths and managed to focus on Kell's face. "Yes. Very much alright." He smiled and his eyelids slid lazily down and up again.
"Your eyes... they're golden." Kell needed to hear some sort of explanation.
Will blinked. And then smiled again, a somewhat secretive smile. "My guardian does that sometimes, it's her eye color. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
Kell shrugged; a bit uncomfortable, a bit intrigued. "You mean she's here now? She..."
Will massaged his neck gently, stopping his words. "She's always with me, in everything I do," he explained patiently. "She liked that too, and thanks you." His lashes lowered in a wicked expression.
Kell, suddenly very conscious of where his hand was still, nearly yanked it away and moved it up Will's body to lay at a somewhat safer place on his stomach. Will looked a bit disappointed at the loss of warmth but sighed deeply and stroked a fingertip along Kell's cheekbone and jaw line.
"My guardian is a part of me just as anything else in my body or mind. I can't stop her from experiencing what I experience and I would never shut her out from it." His fingers moved to Kell's forehead and nose. "As long as you're not threatening my life she will do you no harm, and really, she liked very much what we just did."
Kell felt a smile come over his lips. "She did, did she? Just liked?" He sucked Will's finger into his mouth as it passed over his lips and caressed it with his tongue. Will laughed and Kell's heart skipped a beat.
"She loved it." Will pulled Kell down for a kiss and replaced his finger with his tongue to receive the same treatment.
Kell could've just settled for kissing and snuggling up close to Will then, happy, sated and warm, but a small detail made itself remembered when he stroked a hand down Will's chest. His fingers found stickiness and he twitched before he realized what it was. Will hummed against his lips, maybe realizing his discomfort, and broke the kiss.
"We should probably get that cleaned up before it dries completely," Kell said, a small smile on his lips to hide his discomfort.
Will drew a deep breath and stretched lazily, the edges of his ribcage coming into relief under his skin and the muscles in his thighs tensing. Kell couldn't help but admire the loveliness. He suddenly recognized the sense of feline beauty Will had, and attributed it in part to the sorcerer's guardian. But most of it, he decided, was all Will. The sorcerer's eyelids drifted closed and Kell had to goad him out of bed and into the bathroom.
They managed to get clean without too much teasing and just the odd, spontaneous kiss here and there, and Kell was happy to lie back down in the bed again. His knees felt suddenly weak and his whole body wrung out as if he'd been fighting. He curled up close to Will with his head resting on Will's shoulder and an arm draped over his chest. Will's hand caressed a lazy pattern on Kell's skin and then hugged him closer. Kell slid a knee up over Will's thigh and breathed in the scent of the sorcerer; musky, salty, a hint of sweat.
This was all he wanted, to lay close to Will's warm body, feeling completely safe and wanted and satisfied. This moment had never occurred before with the women he had shared intimacy with, though they had pleasured him enough. These emotions and this closeness had never lulled him to sleep when lord Calon had bedded him.
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